Railway-switch plate



(No Model.)

O. H TWIST.

RAILWAY SWITCH PLATE.

No. 856,607 Patented Jan. 25,1887

.Pnrnnr on iinLns ll. TlVIST, OF NEW YORK,

N. "51., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM T. MINOR, OF STAMFORD,CONNECTICUT.

RAlLWAY SWITCH PLATE.

SPECIFEC'ATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 356,607. dated January25, 1887.

Application filed November 14, 1885. Serial No. 182,833. (No modell TaZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. 'lwisr, of

the city of New York, in the county and State Plates of which thefollowing is such a full,

clear, concise, and exact description as will onable others skilled inthe art to which my invention appcrtains to make and use the same,reference hein g had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

It is a wcll-known fact that the rails oi a railway contract and expandto a considerabe extent, and that, owing to their connection with eachother, the volume of contraction or expansion is carried from one railto another, and oftentimes the continuity is uninterrupted for miles,and-the lengthening or shortening of the track will of course he .inaccordance with the. extent of the connected metallic surface. The mostfrequent, and practically the only, interruptions in a railway track, ofthe surface through or along which theexpansion or contraction may becarried, are found at the switches, the rails of which not only have tobe free from the tics, but also disconnected at their movable ends fromthe permanent track-rails. The result is that the expansion orcontraction will culminate in the gain or loss at the switchrails, andif in gain the switchrails will be rendered practically immovable,while, on the other hand, the loss at such point will cause aconsiderable space to be left between the ends of the switchrails andthe ends of the adjacent track-rails. Such space will cause a jumping ofthe carwvhecls in passing over this portion of the track, and the endsof both the switch-rails and the track-rails will become battered andinjured to such an extent that they will frequently require replacinHeretofore railway "switches have been constructed with plates for theswitch-rails to move upon, and these plates have been made to extendalong on the ties, being connected at each end with the permanenttrack-rails. In such construction, however, the switch -rails being madeto rest upon these plates, the crossrods by which they are heldtogether, so that one moves with the other, are necessarily above thelevel of the ties, and this renders that portion of the track dangerous,because of the liability of apersonstripping while stepping from one tie to another. Moreover, the manufacture of such plates is veryexpensive, inasmuch as they must be broad enough to permit of themovement ofthe switch-rails upon them, and if made to taper from themovable end of the switch-rails, this requires an expensive cut tingoperation. Not only so, the manufacture of such switch-platesnecessarily requires very heavy and expensive machinery, in order toroll and finish the metal so that it would be adapted to the purpose.For these and'other reasons this form of switch-plate has not f on ndsufficient-favor toinsure their adoption, except to a limited extent.forts to overcome the dilliculties heretofore experienced, as abovementioned, andthelimited use of such switclrplates, the want of somepractical and moderately-expensive means for connecting the traclorailswhere their continuity is broken by the switches has been felt, insomuchthat it is a question of serious consideration among practical railwaymen.

The object of my invention is the construction of a switch or connectingplate which will be cheap to manufacture and easily applied, and bymeans of which connection is made between the track-rails which will relieve the switch-rails from the otherwise evil effects of thecontraction and expansion, as hereinafter more fully described andclaimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan of arailway-switch and itsconnections with the main tracks. Fig. 2 isavertical section of one sideor rail of the track, showing one of the switch rails and a portion ofthe abutting traclcrails. This figure also shows the connecting-plate,which is made to pass under the ties upon which the switch-rail rests.Figs. and lare respectively vertical sections of a portion of theconnecting-plate, showing the relation of such plate to the ties andrails; and Figs. 5 and 6 are plans of Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, thelines a; sand 3 y indicating where the sections represented by Figs. 3and 4 are taken. In these drawings, A A represent the fixed rails of themain track, l3 B the switch-rails, and G G the rails of theswitch-tracks, or those tracks with which connection is made by theNotwithstanding the efswitch of the cross-rods at the switch end, causesboth rails to move at one time and 0011- with all the rails, while inthe same figure the dotted lines lengthwise of the track indicatemovement of the switch; andD D represent the plates which connect therails'A A .of the main track with the rails O G of the switchtracks.

The rails of the several tracks other than the switch-rails are securedto the ties by spikes or otherwise, in the usual manner. Theswitch-rails BB are, however, made to rest upon the ties,-withoutbeingfixed thereto, and are connected together by crossrods b b, so that themovement, by the operation of the nect with the different switch-tracksrepresented by the corresponding pairs of rails, O O.

In the construction of that portion of the track where the switches arelocated I place metallic plates D D under the ties, upon which theswitchwrails rest. These plates are made to pass above the ties uponwhich the trackrails are secured, being connected with the ends of suchtrack-rails. be secured to the ties by spikes or otherwise. They aremade either in one piece or in two or more sections; but I-prefer tomake them in sections which are bolted or secured together, because inthis way that part which rests under and is connected with the severalrails of the respective switch-tracks may be made as wide as it isdesirable to have it, while the remaining portion can be as narrow asmay be desired. In Fig. 1 the section of the plate which connects withthe rails of the switchtracks is shown as being made to extend entirelyacross the tracks, and as being connected a width which would simplyadmit of connections with those rails on a single side of the tracksonly.

To the section or sections having connection with the rails of theswitch-track are secured the sections which extend underneath the tiesupon which theswitclrrails rest,either by bolts or in any other desiredmanner. This section which lies underneath the ties is preferably of auniform width and secured to the ties, being bent up so as to come abovethe tie at the opposite end, where it is connected with the track-railA; but a separate section maybe used at such end, if desired. In Fig.

2 the plate is shown as being in one piece, which is bent up at bothends of the switchrails and then made to extend under the track rails,to which these ends are secured.

The plates D D may expensive metal, nor is there any need of a.

large expenditure in preparing the plates for use; and when the platesare placed in and connected with the trackthe switch-rails will slideupon the ties in the ordinary way, so that the cross-rods will not bebrought above the ties and interfere with passage along the track.

I am aware that it has been proposed to counteract the expansion of therails of the main track by means'of stay-rails placed nnder the road-bedbeneath the switcherails, such stay-rails being bolted to the main railsfor the purpose of arresting the longitudinal movewent thereof and toforma solid bearing and anchorage at the point of attachment of the mainrails with the stay-rails; but the interposition of such stay-railsdiffers fromlniyinventionin that I do not place "my plates UHl der theroad-bed or seek to arrest the con-l tractile and expansive forces ofthe main rails by solid bearings or anchorage, but to divert the courseof the contraction and expansion across the space occupied by theswitch-rails; hence I do not wish to be understood as claimingstay-rails placed under the road-bed be neath the switch-rails andserving to arrest or stay the contractile and expansive forces.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a switch for rail.ways, a metallic plate or plates made to passdirectly beneath the ties upon which the switch-rails rest andabove theroadbed and to pass above the ties at the opposite ends'of theswitch-rails, said plate or plates being secured at such opposite endsto the track-rails, substantially as "and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a switch for railways,a metallic plate or plates composed of twoor more sections secured togethen said plates being made to passdirectly beneath the ties upon which the switch-rails rest above theroad-bed and to pass above the ties at the opposite ends of theswitch-rails, the same being secured at such opposite ends to thetrack-rails, substantially.

as and for the purpose set forth.

- CHAS. H. TWIST.

Witnesses:

HUBERT A. BANNING, Enw. F. TOURTELLOTTE.

